Joe – like many of the 1 million Asians illegally in this country – didn’t sneak across the border without documents. He arrived with an idealized vision of America, sky-high hopes and all the proper paperwork.

But things went awry. His student visa required him to take a full course load and forbade him from working; but he soon found he couldn’t afford tuition without holding a job. So his course load shrank. His visa expired. And now he’s working in the health care industry, living with relatives, unable to strike out on his own or pursue his dream of becoming an architect.

Joe, from Manila, who is not being identified because he fears deportation, has joined the undocumented underground so often associated with Hispanic immigrants.

As thousands gear up for Monday’s boycott demanding immigration overhaul, Joe will not join them. He, like many in Orange County’s Asian community, doesn’t see the movement as having much to do with him, although he’s in a related legal limbo.

Experts and activists say the legislative proposals could do a great deal of good – and harm – to the Asian immigrant community, documented and undocumented.

“The issues have been framed more for the Latino community, but they affect the entire community,” said Mary Anne Foo, executive director of the Orange County Asian & Pacific Islander Community Alliance. “We want to bring that to light.”

She is urging Asians to march alongside their Hispanic neighbors on Monday, and will do so herself.

Several proposals on the table – and there are many – would address the tangles faced by people here legally, said Santa Ana immigration attorney Hilda Surtida.

Her clients are mostly Filipino registered nurses helping to stem the American nursing shortage, but visa backlogs threaten to ensnare them. That could be solved under pending legislation, taking the nurses out of line and ensuring their status for years. Also:

More employment visas would be granted.

The children of illegal immigrants – who grew up here and did well in school – could pay in-state tuition at colleges, which is a fraction of what they must pay now.

Some of these American-raised children would have a path to citizenship.

The agonizingly long wait time for family reunification – in some cases stretching decades – might be shortened.

There are many other things which may especially concern Asians, according to the Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C. Some proposals would:

Criminalize students on F1 visas who drop below a full course load, and workers on H1 visas who are laid off and can’t find work within a certain period of time.

Expand the government’s ability to remove immigrants without judicial process.

Require mandatory detainment for people who enter the country without documents, including refugees seeking political asylum.

Many Asians aren’t aware how profoundly all this could affect them, and how deeply involved they really are in the whole debate, activists said.

Vu Quí Ho Nhiên, managing editor of Nguoi Viet Daily News, reminded Vietnamese that many came to this country without papers.

“When host countries like you, they give you a nice label, like ‘refugee.’ When they don’t like you, they give you a bad one, like ‘illegal immigrant,'” he wrote in a recent column.

RESERVE

Asian participation varies from place to place. In Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, Koreans are regular protesters, sponsoring marches, circulating letters to Congress and providing dramatic drumming as a rhythmic backdrop to the protests.

Why are Orange County Asians more reserved?

“The hesitation might be that we are a more conservative county, and people think, ‘How do the police and sheriffs view this?'” Foo said. “And with our youth, we’re more concerned about, ‘We don’t want you to get in trouble’ and ‘Don’t miss school.'”

Many people come from countries where challenges to the government are dealt with harshly. And knowing that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the city of Costa Mesa want local officers to enforce federal immigration laws makes people even more wary of taking a stand in the streets, Foo said.

“We have quite a few undocumented people in our community,” Foo said. “They might have come on student visas or through Canada. Many were children who came with their parents when they were a year old. Some kids don’t even know they’re undocumented. It wasn’t their choice and they’re being punished for their parents’ decision to seek a better life.

“People need to understand what’s going on and what it means to them,” she said. “It’s not a Latino issue. It’s an issue we all need to work on together.”

Teri Sforza is one of the lead reporters on the OCR/SCNG probe of fraud, abuse and death in the Southern California addiction treatment industry. Our "Rehab Riviera" coverage won first place for investigative reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, first place for projects reporting from Best of the West and is a finalist for the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation's print award, competing with the New York Times, the Washington Post and ProPublica. Sforza birthed the Watchdog column for The Orange County Register in 2008, aiming to keep a critical (but good-humored) eye on governments and nonprofits, large and small. It won first place for public service reporting from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in 2010. She also contributed to the OCR's Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of fertility fraud at UC Irvine, covered what was then the largest municipal bankruptcy in America‘s history, and is the author of "The Strangest Song," the first book to tell the story of a genetic condition called Williams syndrome and the extraordinary musicality of many of the people who have it. She earned her M.F.A. from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, and enjoys making documentaries, including the OCR's first: "The Boy Monk," a story that was also told as a series in print. Watchdogs need help: Point us to documents that can help tell stories that need to be told, and we'll do the rest. Send tips to watchdog@ocregister.com.